House budget chief: Negotiators nearing agreement on schools, water

Leading lawmakers are working toward a budget agreement that would allocate $3.2 billion to public schools and invest $2 billion in water infrastructure, House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jim Pitts said Tuesday.

The House and Senate still are apart on how much money to put into higher education, Pitts said.

Education and water have been two of the high-profile items with which legislative leaders are grappling in the effort to seal a budget deal before the regular legislative session ends May 27.

Funding for public schools has been a top issue since public-education money was cut back by $5.4 billion two years ago in the face of a projected revenue shortfall.

Pitts said the money for schools would come from general revenue and from higher school property values.

“Hopefully, we’ll have an agreement sometime today on public ed. We’re’ still working on that,” Pitts said, with leaders trying to get support from “a broad group of members.”

The water issue has been a battle since the Senate approved Senate Joint Resolution 1 to put $5.7 billion from the rainy day fund into transportation, water and education. The proposed constitutional amendment would require a vote on a statewide ballot to become law.

House leaders including Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, have stood against a constitutional amendment, saying lawmakers would be punting their responsibility to voters.

Pitts said under the water agreement, a constitutionally dedicated fund would be created through an amendment that voters would be asked to approve. However, he said that voters would not approve the amount appropriated. That, he said, would be done by lawmakers.

The water deal sounded firmer than the education deal, but not yet finalized.

Leaders have “an agreement to deal with water,” Pitts said. “But we haven’t looked at the wording yet.”

While hopes are fading for a big funding infusion for transportation, Pitts said, “I hope we can do at least the shale roads or the oil-patch roads, which is $500 million.”